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Andrew Ross Sorkin on Two Crises, Lasting Impact: How 1929 and 2008 Still Shape Finance | Hoover Institution

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Jan 29, 2026

Guest

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Andrew Ross Sorkin, DealBook founder and NYT editor-at-large who wrote Too Big to Fail and 1929, reflects on how 1929 and 2008 reshaped banking and regulation. He talks about the lead-up to crashes, policy failures like Smoot-Hawley and the gold standard, the origins of Glass–Steagall, and the roles of debt, disclosure, and lender-of-last-resort actions.

57:20

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ANECDOTE

Lehman Weekend That Spawned A Book

Andrew Ross Sorkin woke his wife at 1–2 a.m. describing the chaos of Lehman's collapse and financial panic.
His wife replied, "No, Andrew, it's like a book," which prompted him to write Too Big to Fail.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Archival Hunt That Built 1929

Sorkin discovered Thomas Lamont's diaries in Harvard's Baker Library and used released New York Fed minutes as a research treasure map.
He then spent eight years assembling dozens of archives, depositions, letters, and transcripts to reconstruct 1929–1933 scenes.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

John Raskob: Credit, Empire State, And Weekends

John Raskob pioneered consumer credit at GM, created an early mutual-fund-like product, and funded the Empire State Building debt-free.
He also campaigned politically and advocated for a five-day workweek to boost consumption.

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Sorkin's Morning Routine and Discipline

00:33 • 2min

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Becoming a Business Journalist

02:36 • 4min

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Founding DealBook and Email Newsletters

06:24 • 3min

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Transition to TV and CNBC

09:26 • 2min

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Writing Too Big to Fail: The 2008 Story

11:26 • 5min

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Why Write 1929: Research Discovery

16:43 • 6min

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John Raskob and Consumer Credit's Rise

22:28 • 4min

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Lead-up to the Crash and Policy Context

26:16 • 5min

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Policy Failures After the Crash

31:04 • 5min

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Carter Glass, Mitchell, and Glass–Steagall Origins

35:44 • 6min

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Characters: Astrologer Evangeline Adams

41:53 • 2min

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Bank Runs, Technology, and Psychology

43:57 • 8min

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Lessons: Debt, Transparency, and Lender-of-Last-Resort

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Jon Hartley and Andrew Ross Sorkin discuss Andrew’s career as a journalist, Andrew’s recent book 1929 and how the events between the 1929 Wall Street crash and 1933 reshaped banking and financial regulation, comparisons with the 2008 global financial crisis (chronicled in Andrew’s first book Too Big To Fail), and the policy lessons that have been learned from both events.

Recorded on January 9, 2026.

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Each episode of Capitalism and Freedom in the 21st Century, a video podcast series and the official podcast of the Hoover Economic Policy Working Group, focuses on getting into the weeds of economics, finance, and public policy on important current topics through one-on-one interviews. Host Jon Hartley asks guests about their main ideas and contributions to academic research and policy. The podcast is titled after Milton Friedman‘s famous 1962 bestselling book Capitalism and Freedom, which after 60 years, remains prescient from its focus on various topics which are now at the forefront of economic debates, such as monetary policy and inflation, fiscal policy, occupational licensing, education vouchers, income share agreements, the distribution of income, and negative income taxes, among many other topics.

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